Actual cooking result management method, content management method, server, and cooking apparatus

ABSTRACT

For cooking data provided via a communication network, use track records of the cooking data corresponding with their actual use status are accurately managed. When receiving a request for transmission of cooking data from a terminal (S 11 ), a server transmits the cooking data to the terminal (S 12,  S 13 ), and at this time receives use history data with a microwave oven for previously transmitted cooking data (S 14 ). The server manages use track records of the cooking data based on use history data received from terminals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology related to servicesof transmitting information to a plurality of users via a communicationnetwork typified by the Internet.

[0002] In recent years, with the rapid spread and advances of theInternet, services of transmitting various kinds of information to usershave been provided in a variety of forms. In such services, there hasbeen constructed a system of managing the use frequency of contentstransmitted. In this system, the number of times of downloading ofcontents from a server is counted, and based on the counted number, thestatus of use of the contents is managed/evaluated.

Problem to be Solved

[0003] It will cause no problem to manage/evaluate the use status ofcontents based on the number of times of downloading of the contentswhen the contents are information to be merely browsed such as news andan article.

[0004] However, when the contents are cooking data prepared for cookingwith a home cooking appliance, for example, the number of times ofdownloading of the contents does not necessarily represent the usestatus of the contents. In other words, such cooking data is consideredas having used as contents only when it is actually used for cooking,not when it is merely downloaded.

[0005] Therefore, for a type of contents, such as cooking data, whichwill be of no value if it is only browsed and fails to induce the userto act based on the information, it is necessary to provide a system ofaccurately managing the actual use status of the contents.

SUMMARY OF TILE INVENTION

[0006] An object of the present invention is providing a cooking trackrecord management method by which a use track record corresponding withthe actual use status can be accurately managed for cooking dataprovided via a communication network.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is providing a contentsmanagement method by which a use track record corresponding with theactual use status can be accurately managed for contents provided via acommunication network.

[0008] To attain the above objects, the present invention is directed toa cooking track record management method using a server capable oftransmitting information to a terminal via a communication network, theserver including a cooking data database storing a plurality of piecesof cooking data, the method including the steps of: transmitting cookingdata read from the cooking data database to a terminal requestingtransmission of the cooking data; receiving use history data with acooking appliance for transmitted cooking data from the terminal; andmanaging use track records of the cooking data stored in the cookingdata database based on the use history data received from the terminal.

[0009] According to the invention described above, history informationof actual cooking with cooking appliances by users can be obtained forthe cooking data prepared in the cooking data database. Based on theobtained actual use history information, use track records of thecooking data can be managed. In this way, use track records of thecooking data corresponding with their actual use status, which will notbe grasped with the mere number of times of downloading of the data, canbe accurately managed.

[0010] Preferably, the server receives the use history data forpreviously transmitted cooking data from the terminal when the serverreceives a request for transmission of cooking data from the terminal orwhen the server transmits cooking data to the terminal.

[0011] Preferably, the server transmits the managed use track records ofcooking data to a terminal which requests transmission of the use trackrecords.

[0012] Preferably, the cooking appliance is a microwave oven.

[0013] Preferably, the cooking data transmitted to the terminal is givento the cooking appliance via a recording medium, and the use historydata with the cooking appliance is given to the terminal via therecording medium.

[0014] Preferably, the cooking appliance has a communication functionand operates as the terminal.

[0015] Preferably, the use history data includes data representing theuse frequency of cooking data for each action. The cooking appliancepreferably includes: an operating section; an input section for readingcooking data; and an operation-action correspondence databaserepresenting the correspondence between the operation performed with theoperating section and the action for the cooking data read via the inputsection, and the use frequency of the cooking data for each action ispreferably recorded by referring to the operation-action correspondencedatabase.

[0016] Preferably, the terminal transmits use history data with aplurality of appliances including the cooking appliance. The use historydata preferably includes data representing the use frequency of thecooking data for each appliance.

[0017] Preferably, the server transmits advertisementinformation-inserted cooking data, and the server computes the browsefrequency of the advertisement information based on the use history datafor the cooking data.

[0018] According to another aspect, the present invention is directed toa contents management method using a server capable of transmittingcontents to a terminal via a communication network, the server includinga contents data database storing a plurality of pieces of contents, themethod including the steps of: transmitting contents read from thecontents data database to a terminal requesting transmission of thecontents; receiving use history data with an appliance adapted to use ofthe contents for the transmitted contents from the terminal; andmanaging use track records of the contents stored in the contents datadatabase based on the use history data received from the terminal.

[0019] According to the invention described above, history informationof actual cooking with cooking appliances by users can be obtained forthe contents prepared in the contents database. Based on the obtainedactual use history information, use track records of the contents can bemanaged. In this way, use track records of the contents correspondingwith their actual use status, which will not be grasped with the merenumber of times of downloading of the data, can be accurately managed.

[0020] Preferably, the contents are cooking data, and the appliance is acooking appliance.

[0021] Preferably, the use history data includes data representing theuse frequency of contents for each action.

[0022] Preferably, the terminal transmits use history data with aplurality of appliances. The use history data preferably includes datarepresenting the use frequency of contents for each appliance.

[0023] Alternatively, the present invention is directed to a cookingtrack record management method using a server capable of communicatingwith a terminal via a communication network, the method including thesteps of: receiving use history data with a cooking appliance forcooking data from one terminal; and managing a use track record of thecooking data based on the use history data received from the terminal.

[0024] According to another aspect, the present invention is directed toa server capable of transmitting information to a terminal via acommunication network, wherein the server includes a cooking datadatabase storing a plurality of pieces of cooking data, and the servertransmits cooking data read from the cooking data database to a terminalrequesting transmission of the cooking data, receives use history datawith a cooking appliance for transmitted cooking data from the terminal,and manages use track records of the cooking data stored in the cookingdata database based on the use history data received from the terminal.

[0025] Alternatively, the present invention is directed to a servercapable of transmitting information to a terminal via a communicationnetwork, wherein the server includes a contents data database storing aplurality of pieces of contents, and the server transmits contents readfrom the contents data database to a terminal requesting transmission ofthe contents, receives use history data with an appliance adapted to useof transmitted contents for the contents from the terminal, and managesuse track records of the contents stored in the contents data databasebased on the use history data received from the terminal.

[0026] According to another aspect, the present invention is directed tocooking appliance including: an operating section; an input section forreading cooking data; and an operation-action correspondence databaserepresenting the correspondence between the operation performed with theoperating section and the action for the cooking data read via the inputsection, wherein the use frequency of the cooking data for each actionis recorded by referring to the operation-action correspondencedatabase.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the entire architecture of aninformation communication system in Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention.

[0028]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a function-oriented configuration ofa server in FIG. 1.

[0029]FIGS. 3A and 3B are views showing examples of use history data andcooking track record information, respectively.

[0030]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a cooking track record management methodof Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0031]FIG. 5 shows a screen for downloading cooking data.

[0032]FIGS. 6A to 6I are views showing an example of a cooking sequencewith a microwave oven.

[0033]FIG. 7 is a view showing a use history of cooking data by a user.

[0034]FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing updated use history data andcooking track record information.

[0035]FIG. 9 is a view showing an outline of excellent recipe selectionbusiness as an application of the present invention.

[0036]FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the entire architecture of aninformation communication system in Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention.

[0037]FIG. 11 is a view of a configuration for accumulating use historydata for each use.

[0038]FIG. 12 shows an example of an operating section of a microwaveoven.

[0039]FIG. 13 shows an example of an operation-action correspondencedatabase of the microwave oven.

[0040]FIG. 14 shows an example of an operating section of an IH cookingheater.

[0041]FIG. 15 shows an example of an operation-action correspondencedatabase of the IH cooking heater.

[0042]FIG. 16 shows an example of a remote controller for operation of adisplay unit.

[0043]FIG. 17 shows an example of an operation-action correspondencedatabase of the display unit.

[0044]FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing accumulation of use history data.

[0045]FIG. 19 shows an example of use history data.

[0046]FIG. 20 is a schematic view of the entire architecture of aninformation communication system in Embodiment 3 of the presentinvention.

[0047]FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a function-oriented configuration ofa server in FIG. 20.

[0048]FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing processing in Embodiment 3 of thepresent invention.

[0049]FIG. 23 shows an example of information representing thecorrespondence between advertisement information and cooking data.

[0050]FIG. 24 shows an example of advertisement information-insertedcooking data.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0051] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention willbe described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1

[0052]FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the entire architecture of aninformation communication system in Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. A cooking track record management method and a contentsmanagement method of this embodiment are implemented in the informationcommunication system of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the informationcommunication system includes: a server 101 responsible for servicessuch as provision of cooking data; a communication network 102 typifiedby the Internet; a terminal 103 such as a personal computer, a cellularphone and a mobile information terminal; a semiconductor memory card 104such as an SD card as a recording medium; and a microwave oven 105 as acooking appliance.

[0053] Cooking data includes files such as an image file containing animage of a finished dish for a recipe concerned and an image for cookingadvice, a cooking data file regarding the setting of the temperature andthe power of a cooking appliance during cooking, and a document file fordisplaying a cooking procedure, ingredients and their quantitiesrequired and the like on a screen.

[0054] The microwave oven 105 is adapted to accept insertion of thesemiconductor memory card 104 and has a liquid crystal screen 110 fordisplay of the cooking procedure and the like. The semiconductor memorycard 104 transfers the cooking data received by the terminal 103 to themicrowave oven 105, and also transfers a use track record of cookingdata with the microwave oven 105 to the terminal 103.

[0055]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a function-orientedconfiguration of the server 101. Referring to FIG. 2, a data receptionsection 201 receives data from the communication network 102. A receiveddata interpretation section 202 interprets the data received via thedata reception section 201 to specify the sender and information detailsof the data. A sender storage section 203 stores information specifyingthe sender of the received data based on the interpretation result fromthe received data interpretation section 202. A transmitting datapreparation section 204 prepares transmitting data according to aresponse rule stored in a response rule database (DB) 205. A datatransmission section 206 transmits the transmitting data prepared by thetransmitting data preparation section 204 via the communication network102.

[0056] A cooking data DB 211 stores a plurality of pieces of cookingdata to be transmitted to users. A recommendation rule DB 212 storesrules for recommending cooking data to respective users. A recommendeddata determination section 213 determines cooking data to be recommendedto each user by referring to the interpretation result and therecommendation rule DB 212.

[0057] A user storage section 221 stores information specifying a userwhenever the user accesses the server 101 via the communication network102 to upload the user's use history data to the server 101 and downloadcooking data. A use history DB 222 stores use history data of cookingdata for each user.

[0058] A cooking track record DB 224 stores use track records of therespective pieces of cooking data stored in the cooking data DB 211 forall of users. A track record management section 225 updates the cookingtrack record DB 224 as appropriate by referring to the user history DB222 and the cooking data DB 211.

[0059]FIG. 3A shows an example of use history data stored in the usehistory DB 222, and FIG. 3B shows an example of cooking track recordinformation stored in the cooking track record DB 224. As shown in FIG.3A, the use history DB 222 includes items of user ID for identifying theuser, a name representing the user's name and the like, a date of updateof the use history (form of YYMMDD in FIG. 3A), a menu title of thecooking data, and the number of times of cooking of the cooking data. Inthe example of FIG. 3A, it is indicated that user “xxxx” of user ID“002” has cooked “potato gratin” 13 times, for example. As shown in FIG.3B, the cooking track record DB 224 includes items of the menu title ofthe cooking data appearing in the cooking data DB 211, the number oftimes of cooking of the cooking data for all of users, and the ordinalrank in the number of times of cooking. In the example of FIG. 3B, it isindicated that “roast chicken” has been cooked a total of 1305 times forall of users and is ranked in first place.

[0060]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a cooking track record management methodof this embodiment.

[0061] First, the user opens a homepage for this system with theterminal 103 and selects a menu of cooking data to be downloaded (S21).At this time, the semiconductor memory card 104 is inserted in theterminal 103. FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen for this menuselection. The menus to be displayed on this screen may be chosenconsidering the season by the server 101, or determined by therecommended data determination section 213 based on the previous cookinghistory of the user. Assume herein that the user selects “stuffedpotato” from the screen of FIG. 5.

[0062] When the user clicks the download icon for “stuffed potato”, theterminal 103 requests transmission of the selected menu (S22). Theserver 101, receiving this transmission request (S11), determines themenu to be provided, that is, “stuffed potato” (S12), retrieves cookingdata for “stuffed potato” from the cooking data DB 211 and transmits thecooking data (S13).

[0063] The terminal 103, receiving the cooking data for “stuffed potato”(S23), downloads the cooking data to the semiconductor memory card 104(S24). Together with this downloading, use history data stored in thesemiconductor memory card 104 is uploaded to the terminal 103 (S25), andthen transmitted from the terminal 103 to the server 101 (S26). Theserver 101, receiving the use history data (S14), updates the usehistory DB 222 based on the received use history data (S15), and alsoupdates the cooking track record DB 224 (S16).

[0064] The user inserts the semiconductor memory card 104 containing thedownloaded cooking data for “stuffed potato” into the microwave oven 105(S31), to start cooking of “stuffed potato” (S34) (steps S32 and S33will be described later).

[0065]FIGS. 6A to 6I show an example of a cooking sequence in themicrowave oven 105, which are respectively images displayed on a liquidcrystal screen of the microwave oven 105. First, in the main screen ofFIG. 6A, an image of a finished dish of “stuffed potato” is displayedtogether with main data such as the time required and the calorie. Inthe next Ingredients screen of FIG. 6B, ingredients and their quantitiesrequired for cooking “stuffed potato” are displayed. In this Ingredientsscreen, the quantities can be changed according to the number of familymembers. Once the quantities are determined, How to cook screen of FIG.6C is displayed, and cooking is started. The screen changes sequentiallywith progress of the cooking (FIGS. 6D to 6H). Once the cooking isfinished, a finish screen of FIG. 6I is displayed.

[0066] Once the cooking is finished, the use history with the microwaveoven 105 is updated (S35). In this example, the number of times ofcooking of “stuffed potato” is added by one. The use history data isstored in the inserted semiconductor memory card 104 (S32).

[0067] The user cooks various menus in similar manners. When a new menuis desired (YES in S33), the user inserts the semiconductor memory card104 into the terminal 103 (S27). By this time, the semiconductor memorycard 104 has stored the latest use history data with the microwave oven105.

[0068]FIG. 7 shows an example of the use history data stored in thesemiconductor memory card 104. From the use history data in FIG. 7 it isfound that “stuffed potato” has been downloaded three times since thedownloading. Also found is that compared with the use history data inFIG. 3A, “potato gratin” has been cooked twice additionally,“sake-dipped steamed fowl” once additionally, “Chinese-flavor eggplantsalad” once additionally, and “roasted chicken” four times additionally.A new menu “cheese cake” has also been cooked once.

[0069] The user opens the homepage for this system with the terminal 103to select a menu of cooking data to be downloaded (S28) in the mannerdescribed above. Together with downloading of new cooking data, thelatest use history data with the microwave oven 105 is uploaded to theserver 101 (S11 to S14, S22 to S26). The server 101 updates the usehistory DB 222 based on the received use history data (S15) and alsoupdates the cooking track record DB 224 (S16).

[0070]FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing the details of the use historydata and the cooking track record information updated from those shownin FIGS. 3A and 3B, respectively. In the use history data in FIG. 8A,the use history for user ID “002” has been updated according to the usehistory data in FIG. 7. In the cooking track record information in FIG.8B, the number of times of cooking has been updated for the cooking datareflecting new data including the use history data in FIG. 7. Forexample, the number of times of cooking of “roasted chicken” has widelyincreased from “1305” to “1355”, and “stuffed potato” has appeared as anew menu in twenty-second place.

[0071] The cooking track record information as shown in FIG. 8B may beprovided to a terminal if the terminal requests transmittance of thisinformation. With this, the user can determine cooking data to bedownloaded by checking the popularity of cooking data.

[0072] As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to obtainhistory data of actual cooking by the user with the microwave oven 105for each piece of cooking data prepared in the cooking data DB 211.Based on this actual use history data, the use track record of eachpiece of cooking data can be managed. In this way, use track records ofthe cooking data corresponding with their actual use status, which willnot be grasped with the mere number of times of downloading of the data,can be accurately managed. Various levels of use track record managementmethods are conceivable. For example, as the simplest method, usehistory data received from terminals may just be accumulated as theyare. Alternatively, use history data may be collected and managed foreach user, as in the form shown in FIGS. 3A and 8A. In these cases, themanaged use history data may be subjected to conversion and statisticalprocessing by an information processing unit other than the server.

[0073] The use history data may be subjected to statistical processingfor each user to manage the cooking histories of respective menus on aweekly, monthly or other unit base.

[0074] By this management, progression of the cooking tendency of theuser with the time of year can be accurately grasped, and such graspedresult can be reflected in services such as recipe recommendation. Also,as described in this embodiment, by performing statistical processingfor all of users as shown in FIGS. 3B and 8B, the popularities ofrespective menus for all of users can be accurately grasped.

[0075] In this embodiment, the microwave oven was used as the cookingappliance. The present invention is also applicable to an IH cookingheater, a refrigerator, a rice cooker, an oven toaster and the like, forexample.

[0076] In this embodiment, use history data was transmitted/receivedduring transmission of cooking data from the server. The timing of thistransmission/reception is not limited to this. For example, the terminalmay transmit use history data for so-far received cooking data to theserver during requesting transmission of cooking data.

[0077] In this embodiment, data was exchanged between the terminal andthe cooking appliance using the semiconductor memory card such as an SDcard as the recording medium. Another type of recording medium such as afloppy disk and a DVD-RAM may also be used.

[0078] In place of using a recording medium, data may be exchangedbetween the terminal and the cooking appliance via a physicalcommunication network (wired or wireless). In the future, in which homeLAN will be widespread, it is expected that cooking appliances will beconnected to such home LAN as information home appliances.

[0079] If a cooking appliance itself has a communication function, sucha cooking appliance can be used as the terminal as it is. In this case,the cooking appliance can directly exchange data with the server.

[0080] The server may not transmit cooking data but only receives usehistory data and manages use track records. For example, a recordingmedium such as a CD-ROM containing cooking data may be mailed to theuser, and the user may transmit use history data via the terminalperiodically. Otherwise, when a serviceperson makes periodical visits tothe user's house for maintenance of the cooking appliance, he or she maytransmit use history data from the terminal.

[0081] <Application>

[0082] The present invention can be used for various business models.For example, FIG. 9 shows an architecture of a model in which originalrecipes are generally solicited, the popularities of respective originalrecipes are evaluated as in the embodiment described above, and anincentive such as a reward and a prize is awarded to a person whoserecipe has won high popularity and evaluated as excellent. Thiscontributes to increasing the recipe contents and preventing the recipecontents from being used up.

[0083] To state specifically, a recipe participant who has created anoriginal recipe 341 transmits the original recipe 341 to a server 300from a recipe uploading section 342 of a personal computer 340. In theserver 300, a recipe acceptance section 301 receives the transmittedoriginal recipe 341, and a recipe DB 302 stores the original recipe 341.A specified recipe transmission section 303 transmits a recipe specifiedby a user to the user.

[0084] In a personal computer 310 of the user receiving a recipe 321, adownloaded recipe write section 311 writes the recipe 321 into an SDcard 320. The user inserts the SD card 320 into a microwave oven 330 forcooking. In the microwave oven 330, details of the recipe are displayedon a recipe display section 331, and at this time, a cooking trackrecord write section 332 writes a cooking track record 322 with themicrowave oven 330 into the SD card 320.

[0085] When the user inserts the SD card back into the personal computer310 and instructs transmission or performs given operation, the cookingtrack record 322 written in the SD card 320 is transmitted to the server300 by a cooking track record uploading section 312. In the server 300,a cooking track record reception section 304 receives the transmittedcooking track record 322, which is then written into a user cookingtrack record DB 305.

[0086] An excellent recipe selection section 306 selects a recipe thathas been cooked for the largest number of times, for example, as anexcellent recipe based on the use track records of respective originalrecipes stored in the user cooking track record DB 305. A reward, aprize or the like is awarded to a person who created the selectedexcellent recipe. If this business model is realized under a tie-up witha food producer such as a ham producer, for example, ham-relatedoriginal recipes may be solicited and ham may be awarded as a prize fora person who has created an excellent recipe. This will contribute tonot only enriching the recipe contents but also increasing the sales ofthe food producer.

Embodiment 2

[0087] In Embodiment 1, cooking data downloaded to the terminal 103placed in a user's house was used with one cooking appliance (microwaveoven) 105 for cooking, and use history data accumulated in the cookingappliance was uploaded to the server 101 via the Internet 102 to becollected in the server 101. In Embodiment 2, cooking data downloaded tothe terminal 103 placed in a user's house is used with a plurality ofcooking appliances including the microwave oven 105, and use historydata accumulated in the respective cooking appliances are uploaded tothe server 101.

[0088]FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the entire architecture of aninformation communication system in Embodiment 2 of the presentinvention, in which the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denotedby the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omittedhere. In FIG. 10, an IH cooking heater 106 and a display unit 107 areplaced in a user's house, in addition to the microwave oven 105. The IHcooking heater 106 is another cooking appliance adapted to cookingaccording to cooking data recorded on the semiconductor memory card 104.The display unit 107 permits browsing and printing of cooking datarecorded on the semiconductor memory card 104.

[0089] The user downloads cooking data from the server 101 via theInternet 102 with the terminal 103. The downloaded cooking data can bebrowsed or cooked with the appliances 105, 106 and 107 by using thesemiconductor memory card 104. Use history data are accumulated in therespective appliances 105, 106 and 107 together with informationspecifying use actions (cooking, browse and print) and contents, and areread to the semiconductor memory card 104 at a predetermined timing. Theuse history data read to the semiconductor memory card 104 are uploadedto the server 101 from the terminal 103 via the Internet 102 in a manneras that described in Embodiment 1, for example. As in Embodiment 1, theserver 101 manages use track records of cooking data based on usehistory data received from terminals including the terminal 103.

[0090]FIG. 11 shows a configuration of a portion of each appliance foraccumulating use history data for each use action. Referring to FIG. 11,a data read section 122 reads cooking data, constructed as shown inFIGS. 6A to 6I, recorded on the semiconductor memory card 104 insertedin a recording medium insertion section 121. That is, the is recordingmedium insertion section 121 and the data read section 122 constitute aninput section for reading cooking data. An operation analysis section123 analyses an operation performed by the user of the appliance with anoperating section 124, to obtain information on what type of operation(“cooking”, “browse”, “print” or the like) has been performed on whichpart of the cooking data (“Main screen”, “Ingredients screen”, “Step 1screen” or the like, in the example shown in FIGS. 6A to 6I), byreferring to the cooking data read by the data read section 122 and anoperation-action correspondence DB 127. The information obtained isstored in an operation storage section 125 as use history data. A datawrite section 126 writes the use history data with this appliance storedin the operation storage section 125 into the semiconductor memory card104 inserted in the recording medium insertion section 121.

[0091] The operation-action correspondence DB 127 is a databaseincluding the correspondences between the operations performed with theoperating section 124 and the actions on cooking data read into theappliance.

[0092]FIG. 12 shows an example of the operating section of the microwaveoven 105. Referring to FIG. 12, a display 151 displays screens ofcooking data as those of FIGS. 6A to 6I. The screens of the cooking dataon the display 151 change sequentially as in FIGS. 6A to 6I by operatingoperation keys 152, 153, 154 and 155, which are respectively “Up” key,“Down” key, “Left” key and “Right” key. “Warm” key 157 is used forheating food, and “Cancel” key 156 is used for canceling heating.“History” key 158 is operated when use history data accumulated in theappliance is to be written into the semiconductor memory card 104.

[0093]FIG. 13 shows an example of the operation-action correspondence DB127 of the microwave oven 105. The example of FIG. 13 adopts a format ofassociating each “Operation key” shown in FIG. 12 with the “Action”meant by the operation key. For example, the operation of the userpressing the “Down” key 153 is associated with the action “Browse”because this operation corresponds to browsing the next step of thecooking data. The operation of the user pressing the “Warm” key 157 isassociated with the action “Cooking” because this operation correspondsto heating food placed in the microwave oven 105.

[0094] This operation-action correspondence DB 127 is referred to whenthe user performs some operation with the appliance, to interpret theaction represented by the operation. The operations performed by theuser are different among appliances having different functions.Therefore, the operation-action correspondence DB 127 is necessary foreach appliance.

[0095]FIGS. 14 and 15 respectively show the operating section and theoperation-action correspondence DB 127 of the IH cooking heater 106. InFIG. 14, “Previous display” key 161 and “Next display” key 162 areoperated for browsing the previous screen and the next screen,respectively, in the sequence of cooking data. “Heat” key is operatedfor cooking by heating of the cooking data that is currently beingbrowsed, and “History” key is operated for writing use history data intothe semiconductor memory card 104. In FIG. 15, it is described that the“Previous display”, “Next display” and “Heat” keys are associated withthe actions “Browse”, “Browse” and “Cooking”, respectively.

[0096]FIGS. 16 and 17 respectively show a remote controller and theoperation-action correspondence DB 127 of the display unit 107.Referring to FIG. 16, “Contents view” key 171 is operated for browsingcooking data, “Print” key 172 is operated for printing the cooking datathat is currently being browsed, and “History” key 173 is operated forwriting use history data into the semiconductor memory card 104. In FIG.17, it is described that the “Contents view” key and the “Print” key areassociated with the actions “Browse” and “Print”, respectively.

[0097] Next, a sequence in which the history of operation performed bythe user with an appliance is written into the semiconductor memory card104 will be described with reference to FIG. 18.

[0098] When the user operates any of the operation keys of the operatingsection 124 (S41), the appliance checks whether or not the semiconductormemory card 104 storing the cooking data to be referred to for cookingand browsing has been inserted in the recording medium insertion section121 (S42). If the semiconductor memory card 104 has not been inserted, amessage notifying the user of an error is displayed (S48). If it hasbeen inserted, the operation analysis section 123 analyzes the operationperformed by the user (S43) and determines whether or not the analyzedoperation is in the operation-action correspondence DB 127 (S44). If theoperation is in the database, the action associated with the operationis stored in the operation storage section 125 (S45). If it is not inthe database, the operation analysis section 123 determines whether ornot the operation is pressing the “History” key, that is, whether or notthe operation indicates a request for writing the accumulated usehistory data (S46). If the operation is a request for writing the data,the data write section 126 writes the use history data accumulated inthe operation storage section 125 into the semiconductor memory card 104inserted in the recording medium insertion section 121 (S47).

[0099]FIG. 19 shows an example of use history data written in thesemiconductor memory card 104. As shown in FIG. 19, the use history dataincludes items such as “Contents title” representing the recipe name ofcooking data concerned, “Appliance used” representing the applianceoperated, “Action” associated with the operation, “Screen” (Main screen,Ingredients screen, Step screens and the like shown in FIGS. 6A to 6I)in the sequence of the cooking data on which the action has been made,and the “Frequency” of the action.

[0100] The use history data with the display unit 107 is written intothe semiconductor memory card 104 when the “History” key 173 of theremote controller shown in FIG. 16 is pressed. In the example shown inFIG. 19, for “Stuffed potato”, it is recorded as the use history withthe display unit 173 that “Browse” has been executed once on the “Main”screen, and “Browse” and “Print” have been executed once each on the“Ingredient” screen.

[0101] The use history data with the microwave oven 105 is written intothe semiconductor memory card 104 when the “History” key 158 of theoperating section shown in FIG. 12 is pressed. In the example shown inFIG. 19, for “Stuffed potato”, it is recorded as the use history that“Browse” has been executed once on the “Main” screen and “Browse” and“Cooking” have been executed once each on the “Step 1” screen.

[0102] The use history data with the IH cooking heater 106 is writteninto the semiconductor memory card 104 when the “History” key 164 shownin FIG. 14 is pressed. In the example shown in FIG. 19, for “Stuffedpotato”, it is recorded as the use history that “Browse” and “Cooking”have been executed once each on the “Step 3” screen.

[0103] The use history data stored in the semiconductor memory card 104as shown in FIG. 19 is uploaded to the server 101 via the Internet 102in a manner as that described in Embodiment 1, for example. With thenetwork architecture shown in FIG. 10, the server 101 can collect andaccumulate use history data from a plurality of users. Based on thecollected use history data, the use track records of the cooking dataare managed as described in Embodiment 1.

[0104] As described above, in this embodiment, the use history dataincludes the item indicating the frequency of use of cooking data foreach action (cooking, browse and print). This makes it possible tomanage actual use track records of cooking data for each action. Inaddition, use history data is obtained for each appliance, separatelyfor a cooking appliance such as the microwave oven and the IH cookingheater and an appliance adapted to browsing/printing of cooking datasuch as a display unit, and the use history data includes the itemindicating the frequency of use of cooking data for each appliance. Thismakes it possible to manage actual use track records of cooking data foreach type of appliance, for example. Moreover, the use frequency isrecorded for each part of the cooking data, such as each screen. Thismakes it possible to grasp how each part of the cooking data is actuallyused in more detail.

[0105] In this embodiment, the use history data is written into thesemiconductor memory card 104 when the user presses the “History” key ofthe appliance. The timing of writing of the use history data is notlimited to this, but the timing as described in Embodiment 1, forexample, may be adopted.

[0106] The format of the use history data is not limited to that shownin FIG. 19, but other items of information, such as information relatingto the time of execution of each action and information specifying theuser who executed each action, may be included.

[0107] The operation-action correspondence DB 127 is not necessarilyprovided in each appliance. For example, each action by the user may beidentified by the kind of key pressed, and the use frequency may berecorded for each kind of key.

Embodiment 3

[0108] In Embodiment 3, advertisement information is inserted in cookingdata to be transmitted, and the frequency at which the advertisementinformation has been browsed is obtained based on use history data forthe cooking data.

[0109]FIG. 20 is a schematic view of the entire architecture of a systemin Embodiment 3 of the present invention, in which the same componentsas those in FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals and thedescription thereof is omitted here. In FIG. 20, an advertiser 120requests a server 101A, who distributes cooking data to terminals placedin users' houses and receives use history data for the cooking data, toinsert advertisement information into cooking data.

[0110]FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a function-orientedconfiguration of the server 101A, in which only main part relating tothis embodiment is shown. The same components as those in FIG. 2 aredenoted by the same reference numerals. A cooking data disclosuresection 243 discloses contents information held in the cooking data DB211 to the advertiser 120. An advertisement request acceptance section241 accepts advertisement information, together with informationdesignating the cooking data into which insertion of the advertisementinformation is desired, from the advertiser 120 who has received thedisclosure. A contents preparation section 242 prepares advertisementinformation-added cooking data based on the request received from theadvertiser 120 and the cooking data stored in the cooking data DB 211.An advertisement information storage section 249 stores informationrepresenting the correspondence between information specifying theadvertiser 120 and the cooking data into which the advertisement isinserted.

[0111] The data transmission section 206 transmits advertisementinformation-added cooking data prepared by the contents preparationsection 242 to a user's house, and the data reception section 201receives use history data from the user's house. A browse frequencycomputation section 247 computes the frequency at which theadvertisement information of the advertiser 120 has been browsed fromthe received use history data based on the information stored in theadvertisement information storage section 249. A browse frequency DB 248stores the browse frequency of the advertisement information computed bythe browse frequency computation section 247 in association with theinformation specifying the advertiser 120.

[0112] A flow of processing in this embodiment will be described withreference to FIG. 22.

[0113] In the server 101A, the cooking data disclosure section 243discloses cooking data held in the cooking data DB 211 to the advertiser120 (S61). The advertiser 120 receives the cooking data (S51),determines which advertisement information should be inserted into whichcooking data (S52), and transmits the determined result to the server101A (S53).

[0114] In the server 101A, the advertisement request acceptance section241 receives the request from the advertiser 120 (S62), and theadvertisement information storage section 249 stores informationrepresenting the correspondence between information specifying theadvertiser 120 and the cooking data into which the advertisement is tobe inserted (S63). FIG. 23 shows an example of the information stored inthe advertisement information storage section 249, which indicates thatadvertisement information of “Smile Food” as the advertiser is insertedinto the main screen of cooking data “Stuffed potato”. Herein, the mainscreen is one of the screens of the cooking data shown in FIGS. 6A to6I.

[0115] The contents preparation section 242 of the server 101A preparesadvertisement information-added cooking data (S64). FIG. 24 shows anexample of advertisement information-added cooking data. In FIG. 24,advertisement information IAD of “Smile Food” appears on the main screenof the cooking data shown in FIGS. 6A to 6I.

[0116] The user requests transmission of cooking data with the terminal103 (S71). Receiving the request, the data transmission section 206 ofthe server 101A transmits advertisement information-inserted cookingdata as that shown in FIG. 24 prepared by the contents preparationsection 242 to the terminal 103 (S66).

[0117] When the terminal 103 receives the cooking data (S72), the userperforms actions such as browsing, cooking and printing for the cookingdata with the microwave oven 105, the IH cooking heater 106, and thedisplay unit 107 (S73). As a result of the actions, use history data asthat shown in FIG. 19 is accumulated in the semiconductor memory card104 as described in Embodiment 2.

[0118] The terminal 103 transmits the use history data to the server101A (S74). In the server 101A, the data reception section 201 receivesthe use history data transmitted from the terminal 103 (S67), and thebrowse frequency computation section 247 computes the browse frequencybased on the use history data (S68).

[0119] The browse frequency is computed in the following manner, forexample. It is found from the information shown in FIG. 23 stored in theadvertisement information storage section 249 that the advertisementinformation of “Smile Food” is inserted in the main screen of thecooking data “Stuffed potato”. The browse frequency computation section247 counts the number of times of browsing of the main screen of“Stuffed potato” by the users from the received use history data. In theexample of use history data shown in FIG. 19, for example, “Browse” ofthe main screen has been executed a total of two times, that is, once inthe display unit 107 and once in the microwave oven 105. Therefore, twois the browse frequency computed by the browse frequency computationsection 247.

[0120] Based on the browse frequency for each user computed by thebrowse frequency computation section 247, the browse frequency DB 248 isupdated (S69).

[0121] As described above, in this embodiment, an advertiser can benotified of information on how often advertisement information of theadvertiser has been browsed by users. This enables adoption of abusiness model of billing the advertiser according to the browsefrequency, for example.

[0122] In the embodiments described above, track records of cooking dataas contents were managed. The present invention is also effective forinformation contents other than cooking data. That is, if it is possibleto collect use history data of the contents with appliances adapted touse of the contents, actual use track record of the contents can bemanaged, in place of a mere downloading track record. For example, whenthe contents are movie data, use history data with visual equipmentadapted to reproduction of the movie data may be collected. When thecontents are music data, use history data with audio equipment adaptedto reproduction of the music data may be collected. In this way, as inthe embodiments described above, it is possible to manage use trackrecords of contents more corresponding with their actual use status.

[0123] As described above, according to the present invention, use trackrecords of cooking data corresponding with their actual use status,which will not be grasped with mere counting the number of times ofdownloading of the data, can be accurately managed. Also, use trackrecords of contents corresponding with their actual use status can beaccurately managed.

[0124] While the present invention has been described in preferredembodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thedisclosed invention may be modified in numerous ways and may assume manyembodiments other than that specifically set out and described above.Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover allmodifications of the invention which fall within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cooking track record management method using aserver capable of transmitting information to a terminal via acommunication network, the server including a cooking data databasestoring a plurality of pieces of cooking data, the method comprising thesteps of: transmitting cooking data read from the cooking data databaseto a terminal requesting transmission of the cooking data; receiving usehistory data with a cooking appliance for transmitted cooking data fromthe terminal; and managing use track records of the cooking data storedin the cooking data database based on the use history data received fromthe terminal.
 2. The cooking track record management method of claim 1,wherein the server receives the use history data for previouslytransmitted cooking data from the terminal when the server receives arequest for transmission of cooking data from the terminal or when thesever transmits cooking data to the terminal.
 3. The cooking trackrecord management method of claim 1, wherein the server transmits themanaged use track records of cooking data to a terminal which requeststransmission of the use track records.
 4. The cooking track recordmanagement method of claim 1, wherein the cooking appliance is amicrowave oven.
 5. The cooking track record management method of claim1, wherein the cooking data transmitted to the terminal is given to thecooking appliance via a recording medium, and the use history data withthe cooking appliance is given to the terminal via the recording medium.6. The cooking track record management method of claim 1, wherein thecooking appliance has a communication function and operates as theterminal.
 7. The cooking track record management method of claim 1,wherein the use history data includes data representing the usefrequency of cooking data for each action.
 8. The cooking track recordmanagement method of claim 7, wherein the cooking appliance comprises:an operating section; an input section for reading cooking data; and anoperation-action correspondence database representing the correspondencebetween the operation performed with the operating section and theaction for the cooking data read via the input section, and the usefrequency of the cooking data for each action is recorded by referringto the operation-action correspondence database.
 9. The cooking trackrecord management method of claim 1, wherein the terminal transmits usehistory data with a plurality of appliances including the cookingappliance.
 10. The cooking track record management method of claim 9,wherein the use history data includes data representing the usefrequency of the cooking data for each appliance.
 11. The cooking trackrecord management method of claim 1, wherein the server transmitsadvertisement information-inserted cooking data, and the server computesthe browse frequency of the advertisement information based on the usehistory data for the cooking data.
 12. A contents management methodusing a server capable of transmitting contents to a terminal via acommunication network, the server including a contents data databasestoring a plurality of pieces of contents, the method comprising thesteps of: transmitting contents read from the contents data database toa terminal requesting transmission of the contents; receiving usehistory data with an appliance adapted to use of the contents for thetransmitted contents from the terminal; and managing use track recordsof the contents stored in the contents data database based on the usehistory data received from the terminal.
 13. The contents managementmethod of claim 12, wherein the contents are cooking data, and theappliance is a cooking appliance.
 14. The contents management method ofclaim 12, wherein the use history data includes data representing theuse frequency of contents for each action.
 15. The contents managementmethod of claim 12, wherein the terminal transmits use history data witha plurality of appliances.
 16. The contents management method of claim15, wherein the use history data includes data representing the usefrequency of contents for each appliance.
 17. A cooking track recordmanagement method using a server capable of communicating with aterminal via a communication network, the method comprising the stepsof: receiving use history data with a cooking appliance for cooking datafrom one terminal; and managing a use track record of the cooking databased on the use history data received from the terminal.
 18. A servercapable of transmitting information to a terminal via a communicationnetwork, wherein the server includes a cooking data database storing aplurality of pieces of cooking data, and the server transmits cookingdata read from the cooking data database to a terminal requestingtransmission of the cooking data, receives use history data with acooking appliance for transmitted cooking data from the terminal, andmanages use track records of the cooking data stored in the cooking datadatabase based on the use history data received from the terminal.
 19. Aserver capable of transmitting information to a terminal via acommunication network, wherein the server includes a contents datadatabase storing a plurality of pieces of contents, and the servertransmits contents read from the contents data database to a terminalrequesting transmission of the contents, receives use history data withan appliance adapted to use of transmitted contents for the transmittedcontents from the terminal, and manages use track records of thecontents stored in the contents data database based on the use historydata received from the terminal.
 20. A cooking appliance comprising: anoperating section; an input section for reading cooking data; and anoperation-action correspondence database representing the correspondencebetween the operation performed with the operating section and theaction for the cooking data read via the input section, wherein the usefrequency of the cooking data for each action is recorded by referringto the operation-action correspondence database.
 21. (Added) A cookingtrack record management method using a server capable of transmittinginformation to a terminal via a communication network, the serverincluding a cooking data database for storing a plurality of pieces ofcooking data, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting cookingdata read from the cooking data database to a terminal requestingtransmission of the cooking data; receiving use history data with acooking appliance for transmitted cooking data from the terminal; andmanaging use track records of the cooking data stored in the cookingdata database for each user based on the use history data received fromthe terminal.